A duckweed infested pond, which proved impossible for council workers and volunteers to deal with, has been cleared by a local family.

Residents living near Warner’s Pond in Woodford Green, say the pond has been full of the weed since 2006 when the council removed 200 fish during desilting.

Since then various solutions, including the reintroduction of weed-munching carp and the use of expensive dredging equipment has been mooted.

A chemical company in Milton Keynes even offered to pour experimental dye in to the water in an effort to deprive the weed of light.

In July, a team of volunteers organised by Redbridge Council waded into the pond in an effort to clear the weed, but eventually gave up.

Now, a family from nearby Warners Close, have taken matters into their own hands and cleared the pond.

The publicity shy Banks family, who do not want their full names revealed, spent two weekends and several evenings up to their waists in the water, dragging out duckweed.

Mrs Banks said: “When the council came out to deal with it, they were fairly hopeless, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.

“It took us a couple of weekends and a few evenings in the week, but once we got going it was fine.”

Grateful neighbours were so impressed with the efforts of the family, that they organised a collection to thank them.

Nick Godlonton, 76, of Firs Walk said: : “They shepherded the weed onto the bank with planks of wood and then secured those planks with stakes to stop it drifting back.”

He added: “We now have a relatively duckweed-free Warners Pond which has already attracted back mallard ducks, Canada geese and moorhens.

“Now we're all hoping Redbridge will restock the pond with fish.”

Residents were so grateful that they organised a collection for the family.

Mrs Banks said: “It was very kind of them.

“We gave £20 to each of our children and donated the rest to Help for Heroes.”

A Council spokeswoman said: "We would like to thank the Banks family for their hard work in clearing Warner’s Pond and it’s fantastic to see local residents who are keen to improve their local area.

"We would always support nature conservation projects like this but we would ask that residents do let us know beforehand so that we can make sure it’s safe to do so.

"We can also offer support or assist with coordinating volunteers, like on previous volunteer days at Warner’s Pond.

"Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure’s nature conservation team coordinate a range of activities where residents can help out with local projects such as clearing ponds, improving pathways and helping to cut meadows."

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